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From the sound of my last post, I didn't want people to think that Ice Charades was all in a huff because she didn't get to go backstage.

I still enjoyed seeing the show and my daughter loved it.

When I saw my friend, now turned Performance Director, she whisked us downstairs and we got to sit on the bleacher seats right on by the ice. We were front and center. And when you sit next to the Performance Director, who was calling the show via her headset as well as taking notes, I noticed every skater made eye contact with her.

And some looked at me too. It made me feel a little like I was back in the gang and that they were performing for another skater ... it happens. It's exciting. But really, they were probably thinking, "Is that our new seamstress sitting next to the Director?" or "What am I going to have for dinner tonight?"

But I have to say watching the four themes of Viaje Fantastico, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, and Peter Pan, I was reminded of a conversation I had with another skater at the Ice Capades reunion in Vegas one month ago.

Ice shows are hurting, he warned. The recession made it worse, but they were already in trouble. Just being at a reunion of an ice show that is now more and didn't have a very graceful ending was obvious. But watching four older shows, probably with recycled sets and costumes may have to be the trend of the future. It makes sense to keep the cost down. This tour had a cast of 45 skaters, which still seems like a lot, but it is down from the grand old days of ice shows (I don't know, the 70s - 80s?) when just the chorus alone was more than 45 skaters.

I think in Disney's case, they are lucky they can redo several show and the kids don't mind. At home, they watch the same movie a dozen times. But Holiday On Ice may not be able to do that. They can take the same show to new cities ... which, according to my source in Vegas is one thing HOI is looking into. They've never played the states before - hmmmm.